Lawn sprinkler



May 20, 1952 N. NORDENSTAM LAWN SPRINKLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April26, 1948 NORRIS NORDL'NSTAM y 20, 1952 N. NORDENSTAM 2,597,366

LAWN SPRINKLER Filed April 26, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 No/ m's NOEDf/VS mmMay 20, 1952 N. NORDENSTAM LAWN SPRINKLER Filed April 26, 1948 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 20, 1 952- UNITED STATES LAWN SPRINKLERNorris Nordenstam, Riverside, Calif.

Application April 26, 1948, Serial No. 23,249

3 Claims. 1 The present invention relates to an improved sprinkler.

It is desirable that a sprinkler for use in sprinkling lawns be rugged,simple, fool proof, inexpensive and of a minimum number of parts whichare not likely to become Worn in use.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved lawn sprinkler achieving the above mentioned desideratum.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved lawnsprinkler which may be easily adjusted to provide difierent rate atwhich water is sprinkled on the lawn.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide improvedlawn sprinklers comprising a minimum number of partswhich maybe made andassembled in accordance with present mass production methods.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel areset forth with particularity in the appended claims. This inventionitself, both as to its organization and manner of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantagesthereof, may be best understood byref-' erence to the following description taken in connection with theaccompanyin drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through an improved lawnsprinkler embodying the present invention.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are sectional views taken respectively on the lines22, 3-3 and 44 of Figure 1.

Figures 5 and 6 show the mechanism of Figure 4 in difierent operatingpositions.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 1 of Figure10.

Figure 8 is a sectional view through a modified form of my lawnsprinkler.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 99 ofFigure '7.

,Figure 10 is a longitudinal sectional View through another modifiedlawn sprinkler embodying the present invention.

Figure 11 is a longitudinal sectional view through a portion of stillanother lawn sprinkler embodying the present invention.

Figures 12 and 13 are sectional views taken substantially on the linesI2I2 and l3--l3 of I Figure 11.

Figure 14 is a View in side elevation, partly in fragment of a portionof another modified lawn sprinkler structure embodying the presentinvention.

same plane.

Figure 15 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on theline l5-I5 of Figure 14.

Figure 16 shows the apparatus of Figure 15 in a different operatingposition.

Figure 17 is a longitrdinal sectional view similar to the sectional viewshown in Figure 15 through another modification of apparatus embodyingthe present invention.

Referring to Figures 1 through 6, the lawn sprinkler shown thereinincludes a stationary base or cradle ill in which the cylindrical pipell having the ports [2 is supported for oscillatory movement about theaxis of pipe I I.

There are preferably a plurality ,of such ports l2 extending in variousdirections so that water entering the sprinkler at the inlet I4 may passthrough the pipe I! and out through the ports H2 in the form of a finespray. The ports l2 comprise small tubes, the axes of which lie in theThe pipe H is oscillated as mentioned briefly above by the water motorhaving the general reference numeral [5. The casing [6 of this watermotor is directly connected to the oscillator pipe H while the shaft I!of the motor is normally maintained in locked position with respect tothe base It! by the locking member [8.

This water motor may be a motor of the type normally found inautomobiles for oscillating windshield wipers but is modified andadapted in accordance with the present invention for operation by waterentering at I4. It is noted that most of the water entering at M passesout of the ports l2 while a much smaller amount passes through the fulllength of the pipe ll through the automatically operated valve structureii! to exert a pressure on the locked piston member 28 and casing I6 toproduce oscillatory movement of the casing l6 and after the waterproduces the desired motion of casing 16, it passes out of the outletport 21. Thus, there ar two paths that water entering at the inlet [4may take. Namely, a path through the ports l2 and a second path throughthe Water motor IS.

The pipe ll has a flange HA thereon which is confined by the plug 23screw threadedly mounted in the coupling unit 24 which is stationarilymounted on the base H] and which has a screw threaded opening i4 adaptedto screwthreadedly receive a conventional garden hose. The other end ofpipe I l is screw threaded in the flange member 21 which is aflixed byscrews 23 to the casin I; of t e fluid motor. The'casin i6 is adapted tooscillate automatically as explained in greater detail below withreierenceto the structure shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

The valve structure I 9 automatically controls the distribution of waterto either the right hand or left hand face 26A, 20B of the locked member20. Since the member 26 is locked in position and the casing l6 moves ineither the clockwise or counterclockwise direction due to reactionforces depending respectively on whether the water is directed to theface 20A or the face 26B.

The valve structure I9 comprises a movable port closure member 39, amember 3| for actuating such port closure member 30, the member 3| beingarranged to be moved to either one of the two positions shown in Figures4 and 6 with a snap action. Such snap action movement: is provided bythe yoke member 32 which is normally pressed into engagement with theactuating member 3| by the coil tension' spring 33 having one of itsends attached to said yoke member 32 and the other one of its endsattached to the casing IS. The actuating member 3| pivots about an axiscorresponding to the axis of the shaft J! and has. a pair of shoulders3|A, 3|B adapted.

respectively to engage. an extension of the locked shaft I! to limitmovement of the actuating member. 3| in its two extreme positions shownin Figures 4 and 6.. The valve closure member 30 is rotatably supported.on. the extension of shaft l1 and has a pair of spaced extensions 30A,30B thereonin the path of movement of the actuating member 3 lThisvalveclosuremember 3|! slides on a face of the casing l6 throughwhich theports 34, 35 and 36 extend. Qnepcsition of the member 30, theports 34 and 35, are closed while in the other position shown in Figure6, theports 35 and 35 are. closed. Whenthe port 34? is opened as shownin Figure 6, water is allowed .to flow against the face 20A and when, asshown in Figure4, the port 36 is opened, water is: allowed: to flow aainst theface 20B. to correspondingly cause. movement of the casing ISin the counterclockwise and clockwise directions respectively;

Port 35 is in communication with the opening 2.1. In Figure 6. thestructure shown therein is identical to. the. corresponding structureshownv in Figure 9 and it is noted that'the port 35 is in communicationwith port 36 when port. 34 is opened. to allow water flowing into thefluid motor; and, conversely when the port 36 is exposed to allow water.to flow to the opposite side of the stationary member 20, port 35 is incommunication with port 34. Thus, it is evident that the member 30serves not only to allow exposure of one of the ports 34, 36 for theentrance of water into the fluid motor but serves also to'connect theother side of the member 20 to which water is applied under pressure incommunication with the port 35 to allow. water to exhaust. In otherwords, when water pressure is applied to face 26A, the water oppositethe, face 203 is squeezed into the port 35 and the outlet opening 2|;and, when water under pressure is directed against face 203, the wateropposite face 20A is, in similar manner, ejected out of the opening 35and outlet opening 2|. It is noted that the cross sectional area of theoutlet 2| may be varied by adjustment of the screw 30, the screw 40 andchannel 2| serving as a needle valve for controlling the speed of thefluid motor I5.

of importance in the present arrangement is the particular valve member30, its function with respectto the ports 34, 35 and 36, and the manner,in which the valve member 30' is moved by the over-center arrangement,including the novel yoke member 32v and actuating member 3|. It

is noted that this yoke member 32 is somewhat heart-shaped. This yokemember 32 is moved from the positions shown in Figure 4 to Figure 6 witha snap action after it is moved beyond its dead center position shown inFigure 5. It is noted that the spring 33 not only serves to place theyoke member 32 into engagement with the actuating member but thisactuating member is likewise maintained biased against its seat formedin the stationary shaft 41.

It is thus apparent that in the operation of the sprinkler shown inFigure 1, water is diverted from the pipe II to operate the fluid motorI5. The valve member 30 successively and in turn, presses one side ofthe stationary member 20 into communication with the high pressure waterin pipe I and simultaneously exhausts the other side of the member 20 toatmosphere through port 35. It is further apparent that the valve member30 is shifted from the position shown in Figure 4 to, the position shownin Figure 6 and vice versa at the ends of the strokes of the arrangementshownin Figure 8, the valve structure is identical to thatpreviously'described' in connection.- withFiguresv 1 through 6- and forthat reasonneed not be described again indetail.

The.. significant difference in the structure shown:

in. Figure 1 and Figure. 8.isrthat thepipe H is connected andvincommunication-with the-.mov-

ablehollow'shaft 50 of the. fluidmotor. 5| whose casing 52, ismountedstationary with respect to the base. 53. Thus, in Figure 8 the casing 52is stationary' and. the pipeis oscillated by the pivotally mounteddiaphragm 55 of the fluid motor 5|. A, cover: member 56- isdisposed onthe left hand end of the s rinkler to provide a fluidtight chamber 51which is normally at substantially the same pressure as is thepressurein pipe The fluid under pressure in chamber 5'! is selectivelytransferred to opposite'sides of the movable diaphragm 55 by the valvestructure l9 described in. greater detail above in connection withFigure 1.

In the arrangement shown in Figures 7, 9' and 10,-the diaphragm member55 is again movable while the casing 52. of the fluid motor ismaintained stationary with respect to base 53. Instead of the valvemechanism l9 being on the left hand end of the sprinkler as is the casein Figure 8, the same valve mechanism I9 is interposed between theoscillatable pipe [I and the fluid motor 5|. Thus, in Figure 10, theshaft of the fluid motor need.not be hollow. as is the case in Figure 8.The. stationary cover member. 60 through which the oscillatable shaft 6|passes encloses a fluid tight chamber 62 in which the water pressureissubstantially the'sameas that inside pipe selectively transferred toopposite sides of the diaphragm 55' at the opposite ends of travel ofsuch diaphragm 55 in accordance with motionof the valve member 30.

It is; notedithat' the division of water flow: on the one handto theports |2 and on the other hand; to the chamber 62' may be controlled. bythe screw threaded valve member 64 whose-con.-

Water in chamber 62 may be ical end'cooperates with the 'conicallyshaped seat 65 in the coupling member 66 to form a needle valve. Thiscoupling member 66 serves to couple the pipe II to the hollow shaft BIwhich passes through the fluid tight packing 61 into the chamber 62. Inthe arrangements shown in Figures 7, 8, 9 and wherein the shaft of thefluid motor is oscillated (instead of the casing as in Figure 1) thevalve actuating member 3I is moved directly by the shaft II. For thispurpose, as noted in Figure '7, a shaft BI is adapted to seat the valveactuating member 3I with permissible relative movement between the shaftand the member 3 I.

Thus, as is evident from the disclosure in Fig ure 7 whenand asthe-shaft is rotated a predetermined distance to move the valveactuating member 3| to an over-center position, the spring 33 iseffective to move the valve member with a snap action for its intendedpurpose. 1

Referring now to Figures 11, 12 and 13, there is shown another structureembodying the present invention. Water under pressure from pipe IIpasses through the hollow coupling member 19 through the opening II intothe chamber I2 wherein, as shown in Figure 13, there is disposed a novelsnap action valve member I4 adapted to selectively place the chamber I2in communication'with opposite sides of the movable diaphragm I5 of thefluid motor I6. The movable diaphragm I5 is mounted on its shaft 16a,one end of which is hollow and communicates with the atmosphere to allowpassage of water from the fluid motor to the atmosphere. It is notedthat the diaphragm I5 is of hollow wall construction with thehollow-shaft 16a in communication therewith;

There is also mounted on such diaphragm'the check valve member I8 whichis pivotally mounted at I9. The valve member I4 is pivotally mounted onthe oscillatable shaft 16a and is adapted to close at any particulartime the port I! or the port I8, which are in communication respectivelywith the channels I9 and '80 leading to opposite sides of the diaphragmmember I5. Thus, for, example, when port I1 is uncovered, fluid underpressure from chamber I2 flows across port 11, through channel I9, tothe left hand side of the diaphragm I5 in Figure 12 to move the pivotedcheck valve member I8 to its position shown therein wherein the fluid onthe other side i of the diaphragm I5 may be exhausted upon movement ofthe diaphragm 15 in the direction indicated by the arrow 82. In suchmovement, fluid on the right hand side of the diaphragm passes throughthe open check valve up through r the hollow wall diaphragm and out ofthe hollow shaft'IBa to the atmosphere. It is apparent that when theport I8 is uncovered, fluid under pressure passes from the chamber I2through port I8, through channel 90, to the right hand side of thediaphragm I5 to move the check valve I8 to its other position whereinthe left hand side of the diaphragm is in communication with theatmosphere.

In order to assure quick and positive motion of the valve member 14there is provided an auxiliary valve actuating member 83 which ispivotally mounted on the shaft 18a and which is adapted to be engaged bythe arm 84 afiixed to such oscillatable shaft It. This auxiliary valvemember 83 is normally piped in an over-center position by the torquespring 86 having one of its ends attached to the stationary valve casing85 and the other one of its ends attached to the auxiliary valveactuating member 83. Thus, when and 6 as the arm 84 engages and movesthe valveac tuating member 83 to over-center position the spring 86 iseffective to move the member '83 further with a snap action to move thevalve actuating member I4 in port sealing position. The pro'-' vision ofthe auxiliary valve actuating member; 83 thus assures closure of atleast one of the ports 11, as the case may be, being moved at any oneparticular time even though the lever-member 84 is being moved. 7 v

In the arrangement shown in Figures 14, 15 and 16', water is introducedinto the sprinkler through the central stationary pipe 90 having opening9| therein. Water from such central stationary pipe 90 is directedsuccessively to the jets 92, 93 mounted on and extending from theoscillatable housing 94. A valve supporting member 95 is pivotallymounted at 96 on the housing 94 and carries thereon resilient valveclosure members 91, 98 adapted respectively to interrupt the flow ofwater to the jets 92, '93. The pivotally mounted member 95 is maintainedin one of its two valve closing positions by the spring pressed ball onthe casing 94 engaging a protuberance III I on member 95 as shown inFigures 15 and 16.

Referring to Figure 15, water under pressure from the central stationarypipe 90 passes through the opening 9| and out of the jet 93 to cause thejet 92 to raise to the position shown in' Figure 16. It is noted that inthe movement of pivoted valve member 95 from the position shown inFigure 15 to the position shown in Figure 16, the arcuate reentrantportion I BI engages and slides along the stationary pipe 98 until suchreentrant portion is adjacent the opening 9| as in--" dicated in Figure16. In this latter position, the flow of water through opening BI istemporarily impeded until substantially full water pressure is exertedon thevalve member 95 to cause it to pivot about the shaft 96 againstthe action of the spring pressed ball I00, Thus, when the jet a's'-'sumes the position shown in Figure 16, a flow of water to jet 93 isinterrupted and simultaneously water begins to flow out of the jet 92 tomove it downwardly to the end of its downward stroke wherein the otherreentrant portion I04 becomes adjacent the opening 9| to cause the flowof water, in similar manner, to be transferred to the other jet. Thisaction continues and the jets oscillate about the axis of pipe '90.

Referring to the modified structure shown in Figure 1'7, water underpressure from the central stationary pipe I20 (similar to the pipe 90 inFigure 15) passes through the opening I2'Il into the housing I22 and outof the jet I23 to cause the elongated arm I24 within which the jet I23is disposed to move in a clockwise direction in response to the reactionforces produced by the water leaving the jet I23. It is noted that insuch clockwise movement of the arm I24, water under pressure in thehousing I22 is prevented from leaving the other jet I25 in the arm I26because the valve member I2'I is pressed against the inwardly extendingend of the pipe I26 to thereby seal its opening. The valve member I21having formed thereon the valve seats IZ'IA and I2'IB is pivotallymounted for oscillatable movement about the pin I28 which has its endsanchored in the ends of: the cylindrical housing member I22. This valvemember I2'I is held in either one of its two positions; namely, withvalve seat IZIA engaging pipe end I26 or with the valve seat I2IBengaging the end of pipe I24 due to the water in housing I22 exertingits pressure on the valve member I2'I. For this pur- Z pose,.theropening I2 I: in pipe I20. 15 in predetermined fixed relationship tothe valve member I 21 so that. water" emerging from suchv opening I.2I.directly contacts-and engages thevalve member I27 to firmly press it,against the ends of pipe.- I24 or. I25v as thecase maybe. In order toenhance the resulting force. of the-valve memberl2'I,- and to. insurepositive action thereof, it is provided with a pair of inwardly disposedcurled integrally formed cantilever members I21C and IZ'ID. When,asshown in Figure 17, the cantilever member I21C is moved adjacent thestationary opening I2I, the valve member I21, pivotally-mounted on itsstationary pin I28, prevents. the flow of water out of the jet I25 whileallowing water out of the-jet I23 to cause the pipe I21 to rotate in theclockwise direction. Such. clockwise movement of pipe I24 continuesuntil the other cantilever member I 21D is'moved adjacent the stationaryopening I2I in. which case the water pressure exerted on the cantilevermember I 21D causes the valve member I21 to move about its pivot pin I28and to cause the valve seat I273 to close the opening to pipe I24 tothereby prevent further flow out of the opening I23.. Simultaneously,water is then allowed to flow through the pipe I26 and out of the jetI25 to cause movement of the pipes I24 and I26 in the counterclockwiseor reverse direction. It

is thus apparent that an oscillatory movement is L imparted to the pipesI24 and I26 and that they are automatically reversed in direction at theend of their counterclockwise and clockwise strokes. Thus, the movementof the pipes I24 and I26 is substantially the same as the movement ofthe corresponding jets 92 and 93 in the relatedmodifications shown inFigures 15 and, 16.

While. the particular. embodiments of the presentinv'entionhavebeenshown and described, it

will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and.modifications may be made without departing from this invention in itsbroader aspects and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is tocover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spiritand scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A sprinkler comprising a base member; a conduit cradled in said baseand having a water inlet opening at one end thereof; said conduit havinga plurality of sprinkling jets extending therefrom; a water motor incommunication with the-other end of said conduit whereby'the fullpressure ofwater entering saidwater: inlet is effective to force water.through said jets; said water" motor including a pivotally mounteddiaphragm and: a casing; said. diaphragm being locked. tosaidbase andsaid'casing being coupled to-the other end. of said conduit to oscillatesaid conduit;

2.. In: a sprinkler-of: thev character described, a base, a generallyhorizontally-extending conduit pivotallyv mounted on said base, one end;of said conduitiorming a water inlet for all water flowingtothe-sprinkler, a water motor mounted on the other end-of said conduit,at least one jet extending; generally radially from said conduit and:in. communication. with. an intermediate portion of said. conduitwhereby the full pressure of the water supply to the sprinkler isefiective to cause theflow of water. through said jet, said water. motorcomprising a diaphragmand a casing, said diaphragm being affixed to saidbase andsaid casing being affixed. to said other end of. said conduit, aplurality of ports in the wall of said casing controlling the ingressand egress ofwater to and from opposite sides of said diaphragm, acooperating valve member movably mounted with respect to said ports, apivoted actuating member for said valve member, an overcenter mechanismincluding said valve actuating member whereby said valve member may bemoved from one extreme position to another extreme position with a snapaction.

3. The arrangement set forth in claim 2 in which said overcentermechanism includes a generally heart shaped yoke member encircling saidactuating member and with the apex of said heart shaped yoke memberbiased into engagement with said actuating member by a coil tensionspring having one of its ends attached to said yoke member and the otherone of its ends attached to said casing;

NORRIS NORDENSTAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of. record in. the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,085,609 Heath Feb. 3, 19141,517,664 Berquist Dec. 2, 1924 1,696,385 Coles Dec. 25, 1928 1,755,455Nelson Apr. 22, 1930 2,124,797 Rust et al July 26, 1938 2,266,573 StoneDec. 16, 1941 2,358,377 Bilde Sept. 19,1944

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 578,351.. Germany June 12, 1933

